Selling SEM in the global recession: it’s the ROI, stupid

Like many businesses we’re currently assessing our exposure to the effects of the financial crisis and how the trickle down impact on the “real economy” might effect us. It’s widely accepted that when times get tough the marketing budget is the first target for cost cutting, so are we, as Search Marketers, in trouble?

On the contrary, I’d say there are no better times to be in Search Engine Marketing than hard times. A lot of firms in SEO/SEM/PPC will fall by the wayside in the next 24 months, no doubt, but for those who know how to play to the strengths of our field this is a time of opportunity. In uncertain times Search Marketing has big advantages:

Unbeatable ROI
I spent many years involved in more traditional marketing efforts such as print advertising, direct mail, sponsorship, etc. and in my experience nothing delivers Return On Investment like Search Marketing. Every penny spent on organic search, in particular, works harder than a Japanese beaver. £50k spent on newspaper advertising might get you a single full page spread and, at best, a few hundred thousand eyeballs for a couple of seconds. £50k spent on organic search will get you tens of thousands of visitors a day for years to come.

Quantifiable results
A lot of traditional advertising is hit and hope, with most TV & Print campaigns having no tracking mechanism whatsoever. Direct Mail is a little better in this respect, but nothing can compare to the clear metrics you get with online marketing. Whether it’s organic search, PPC or email, online can tell you how your customers are finding you, what they’re doing when they have and, most importantly, if they’re spending their money with you.

At times like this companies have two key criteria when assigning their marketing budgets: getting as much bang for their buck as possible, and being able to see clearly how it impacts their bottom line. Search is a match made in heaven for these businesses.

As Search Marketers we need to stress these advantages and look for customers receptive to the business benefits they bring. Fortunately those companies are simple enough to find…it’s very easy to convince existing SEO clients to put more of their money in search because they’ve already seen the results it can deliver. Should you need to go looking for new business there’s plenty of low hanging fruit too: pick any industry and look at who’s spending on PPC. Check the organic rankings for same. When you find a company spending on ads that are nowhere in organic you’ve got a potential customer.

It’s tough out there but people are looking to spend wisely, not stop spending altogether. And it doesn’t get much wiser than SEM when it comes to marketing.

[…] than a high street store due to the lower overheads. David Naylor even suggests that there are no better times to be in Search Engine Marketing than hard times and that a better, more quantifiable return on investment (ROI) can be achieved through search […]

Web Consultant in DC - http://www.webconsultingdc.com

We fully expect to be an increase in SEO, SEM, and online marketing requests this coming year.

You did forget one more though David, SEM and online marketing, must orders of magnitude less harmful for the environment than traditional print media.

[…] Following on from Monday’s post about selling SEO during the economic downturn I wanted to put forward some ideas on how specific SEO methods might change over the next 12 […]

Michael Sweigart - http://www.automotiveseoblog.com

In the automotive car dealer marketing sector, we are finding that the cost of a good ppc or SEO campaign may in cases produce thousands of times more results than traditional marketing such as newspapers, direct mail, etc. The difficult time is convincing old school marketers that ROI should be their focus.

Brian Pasch - http://www.paschconsulting.com

PPC when combined with a good landing page has excellent ROI and I agree that it beats the pants off a full page ad in a local paper. Many of my car dealer clients have pulled out of the typical Sunday ad section.

In the past month, my clients who are automotive dealers have actually seen an increase in their costs per click and a decrease in conversion. It would seem that there is increased competition by dealers who are waking up to PPC but in this economy there are more window shoppers than buyers.

An award winning Australian winery we manage tried a free shipping offer and had to pull it after 2 days. There curb appeal was great and clicks doubled but very few purchases.

In this case, I think that people are cutting back on non essentials and will buy a few bottles of wine locally as needed and not a case online like when things were better.

So, my point is that SEM is actually achieving excellent click rates in this crisis but the ad offer should be refined to compensate that there are alot more tire kickers who don’t have money to spend.

[…] David Naylor discusses some of the advantages to online marketing that traditional marketing doesn’t necessarily offer. These factors reinforce the importance of using the available budget a company may have to constructively ‘invest’ it in SEM, which offers measurable results, unbeatable ROI, and leaves a long term impression in the eyes of its market. […]

Richard - http://www.adelto.co.uk/blog

wonder what the click to sales ratio is…i know i click of a fair few sites and never make a purchase…i prefer targeted campaigns…to bring in people who want my products.

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